Furiosa: A Mad Max Story
review by Bobby Blakey
Before the world knew Mel Gibson as Riggs from Lethal Weapon or the director of hits like Braveheart, Heartbreak Ridge and Passion of the Christ he was Max Rockatansky in the 1979 flick Mad Max from director George Miller. The film spawned three sequels with The Road Warrior, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome and Mad Max Fury Road, where Tom Hardy took over the role.
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The fans were also introduced to the new character Furiosa played then by Charlize Theron who was essentially the co-lead to Fury Road. Now Miller is taking us back in time to dive more into her story with the next chapter Furiosa: a Mad Max Saga with Anya Taylor-Joy taking on the role alongside Chris Hemsworth for a fresh take on this car chaotic world. Could this latest chapter bring more of the high-octane action to the fans, or will this be a prequel not worth driving to?
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Furiosa follows young Furiosa who is snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers and falls into the hands of a great Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus. Sweeping through the Wasteland, they come across the Citadel presided over by The Immortan Joe. While the two Tyrants war for dominance, Furiosa must survive many trials as she puts together the means to find her way home.
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I was beyond excited to see this new entry despite being disappointed that Theron wasn’t back in the role. Once again, I did love this movie, but it isn’t without its faults. It doesn’t quite hit the highs of Fury Road, but the placement in the story and different types of world building gives it something fresh while still familiar. This is both great and an issue with the overall finished product. When it works it is outstanding which thankfully is more than not, but the little things might take some out of it.
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First is the overall tone of the film. There are portions of the film that is more cartoonish as opposed to the typically gritty nature of the previous films. That element is here, but it sometimes gets lost in the over-the-top nature of what Miller was trying to do. A lot of this falls on Hemsworth’s character whom I loved but is often so over the top he just doesn’t fit in what we are used to. At the same time, he is absolutely perfect in this world and brings a new style villain to the mix. I think he might hit people in different ways but loved him and he looks to be having a hell of a good time with the role.
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Anya-Taylor Joy is great in the role, but with the direction they went in the film still not sure why they didn’t bring Theron back. It could have layered the story more to include all aspects of Furiosa since the first half of the film follows a younger version of her. While Theron is surely missed in the role, Joy is still fantastic. She brings the wide range of emotions needed, but by the time we get to her in the film she is already hardened and leaving a lot of the weakness and emotions behind and replaced with strength and determination.
The story is fully focused on Furiosa as expected but does take some detours into this bigger war between varying factions in this wasteland. This opens the door to offering up more depth and variety to this world than we have ever seen before. This is the first time in the franchise that we have gotten so many varieties of places and visuals outside of maybe the original since it was before the post-apocalyptic nature of it all. This also slows down the film, at times spending so much time in so many different places which leads to a longer running time than I think it really needed. There are numerous times where the film could have ended, but then kept chugging along. I loved spending all the time here but will likely wear thin on some.
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Of all the minor issues this film has the only one that really bothered me was the amount of CGI this time around. I know a lot of it was to enhance the bigger sequences and visuals, but it was too glaring at times. Where the issues are here it still punches you in the face with the action sequences. There are plenty of car chaos action sequences that take us back to what we love about the franchise. As with every film it goes all in with the creativity of the vehicle designs and how to destroy as much as possible. I loved every one of these scenes and felt it really stepped up its game in that aspect from the all the previous entries.
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In the end I still absolutely loved this flick and cannot wait to check it out again. It needs to be seen in the biggest and loudest theater possible. It does an excellent job of being its own thing and bringing in nods and characters from Fury Road to fully infuse it into the world we know and love. I hope the planned next Mad Max film with Tom Hardy still gets made, but either way I am glad to have gotten this chance to hit the road with Miller and his world of Mad Max once again.
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In addition to the film this release offers up numerous featurettes taking you behind the latest car chaos of the Mad Max world. Join the violent world of George Miller when Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is available now on digital, 4K, Blu-ray and DVD on August 13th from Warner Bros Home Entertainment.
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As if that wasn’t enough, they have also released the Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga - Black & Chrome Edition to digital before it is unleashed on 4K and DVD on September 24th along with the release of the 5-film collection featuring 1979’s acclaimed post-apocalyptic action film Mad Max, 1981’s Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, 1985’s Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road and 2024’s Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga will be released together on 4K Ultra HD (as well as the Black & Chrome Editions of Fury Road and Furiosa).
